Mechanical clothes washer



Oct. 30, 1928.

M. A. DEFIBAUGH MECHANICAL CLOTHES WASHER Filed April 2, 1926 v flrToR 5Y5 Patented Oct. 30, 1928;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFTFICE.

MARK A. DEFIBAUGH, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB TO SYRACUSE WASHING nxcnrnn conroan'rron, WARE.

OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF DELA- MECHANICAL CLOTHES WASHER.

Application filed April 2, 1926. Serial No. 99,272.

This invention relates to a mechanical clothes washer of the vertical reciprocating vacuumcup type in which inverted cups or clothes engaging members are mounted on a vertically movable carrier in uniformly spaced relation circumferentially about the axis of a vertically movable plunger to which the carrier is secured.

This plunger is usually power driven through a suitable gland in the bottom of the clothes-containing tub or vat preferably through the medium of a motor-driven lever and therefore has a definite stroke 'or distance of travel which is transmitted to the cup carrier when the machine is in operation but owing to the more or less irregularity in arrangement and quantity of clothes to, be

operated upon within the tub or vat it becomes necessary to provide resilient connection between the cups and carrier or between the carrier and plungerto allow limited movements of those parts relatively to the positively driven plunger in order to compensate for the irregularities and varying thicknesses of the clothes throughout the area of the tub to prevent overload upon or stoppage of the'motor and also to ;relieve the various parts of the washing mechanism and gland from excessive strains.

The means most commonly employed to allow for this compensating movement is to provide compression spring connections between the cups and rigid arms of the carrier and to house the compression springs in telescoping parts onthe cups and carrier respectively so that the telescoping parts may serve as guides for the vertical movement of the cups relatively to their supporting arms on the carrier which, of course, necessitates more or less close fitting of the telescoping parts and also requires the use of stops for limiting the extension of those parts.

Heretofore, so far as I am aware, the entire carrier including the telescoping mem--' bers for supporting and guiding the on s in their relative vertical movements have een made of cast metal or aluminum alloy "which has necessarily been of relatively large size and weight to withstand the strains to which they are subjected. g

It has been found,'however, that the cups and their supporting arms of the carrier are subjected to widely varying strains in practically all directions due to the irregularities of the surface and varying thicknesses of the clothes operated upon which, after a greater or less period of use, results in excessive wear of the telescoping parts and in some instances causes the breakage of those parts and cupsupporting arms of the carrier which requires replacement of the entire carrier particularly when cast as a single unit. 4

The main object of the present invention is to provide a lighter, stronger, more durable and more eflicientcup carrier thanhas here tofore been practiced, by rigidly securing the cups directly to the outer ends of a corre sponding number of spring arms having their inner ends secured to a hub on the plunger and thereby to preserve the resiliency of the arms throughout their entire lengths so that the cups may-be free to move in all directions under pressure upon the clothes without overstraining any of the parts at the vsame time causing the cups to be restored to their normal positions when relieved frompressure.

Another object is to curve the spring arms in such a manner as to increase their resiliency in all directions and ;thereby to further relieve the strains upon the hub of the carrier and its supporting plunger..

v Another objectis to avoid relative movej'olnts incidental to the use of the relatively ment between the cups and carrier arms and thereby to obviate the objectionable poundtng nolse, excessive wear and" unsanitarv movable parts. 7

Another object is-to reduce the wear between the plunger and gland through which it is movable and thereby to reduce the liability of leakage through the gland.

;A further object is to construct the cups in such a manner as to reduce the liability of crushing or bending the same when sub jected to pressure against the clothes. In other words the objects as specifically enumerated are as follows:

To avoid wearing and cutting of the clothes; to reduce the tendency to wra around the center post orgland; tn eliminate the most frequent, expensive and annoying service problems; to prevent overloading the motor and at the same time to enable the cups and carrier to withstand a greater pressure than'has heretofore been practiced; to render the entire washer mechanism more sanitary; to reduce foundry troubles incidental to casting and also to reduce the number of parts and machine operations and incident: lly to cut down the cost of manufacture.

Other objects and uses will be brought out in the following description:

In the drawings;

Figure l is a top plan of a mechanical washer embodying Various features of my invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional View of thesame on line -2-2 Figure -1-.

As illustrated this clothes washer comprises a cup carrier -1 consisting in this instance of a head or hub 2- spring arms 3- removably secured at one end to the head 2-,

and cups -4 secured at their apexes to the outer ends of the arms 3-.

The head or hub 2 is provided with a central vertical opening -5- for receiving a vertically removable plunger 6- as shown by dotted lines in Figure 2 said hub being provided near its top with a diametrical opening for receiving a locking pin clothes in a manner somewhat similar to that shown in the patent to J. N. Durschug 1,480,157 January 8, 1924.

The locking pin --7 may be provided with one or more notches 8- adapted to be engaged by a spring 7- for holding the pin in its looking or released positions.

The hub -1-- is preferably made of strong metal and is provided with a plurality of in this instance three, vertical openings 9'- arranged in uniformly spaced relation circumferentially about the axis of the hub equal distances therefrom for receiving the Inner ends of the spring arms 3-, said hub being also provided in its upper face with radialgrooves -10-' extending laterally and outwardly from the corresponding vertical openings 9- to form seats for the adjacent horizontal portions of the spring arms to hold sald arms against turning movement in their respective'sockets 9-.

The arms 3- are all of the same form and slze, each arm consisting of a solid rod of spring metal preferably curved in cross section and gradually tapered from its inner end to its outer ,end or from its point of attachment to hub 1- to its point of securement to the apex of its cup 4 the extreme inner end of said arm being offset vertically, 1n this lnstance downwardly, to form a supporting stem -11which is seated in one of of the cups the sockets 9 and has its lower end threaded and engaged by a nut -12- for firmly holding the inner end of the arm in fixed relation to the hub -1 withthe adjacent horizontal portion of the arm seated in the corresponding groove '-10 for holding the arm against turning movement in the socket Each of the spring arms -3 extends downwardly or laterally and outwardly from the upper end of the stem '11- in the form of a compound curve and terminates at its outer end in a vertical stem -13 which is passed through a vertical opening -14- in the apex of one of the cups -4 and has its lower end threaded and engaged by a nut .-15- co-operating with a shoulder 16 on the upper end of the stem 1 l for firm- 1y clamping the cupto the arm.

It will be seen from the foregoing description taken in connection with the drawings that the upper portions of the arms 3 are substantially horizontal and that they are curved outwardly and circumferentially from the stems 'l1- and then gradually curved outwardly and downwardly to the vertical stems 13- so that while the inner ends of the horizontal portions are substantially radial to the axis of the hub 1 the remain-' ing portions are deflected circumferentially and downwardly some distance to one and the same sides of their radial portions whereby the cups 4- will be yieldingly supported on the outer ends of their respective arms wholly at one side of a radial plane passing through the points of securement of said arms to the hub 1-.

These arms, althou h comparatively slender, are found to be sufiiciently strong to exert the desired pressure upon the clothes and at the same time to withstand a greater pressure t-hanwould be possible with relatively larger cast metal arms.

The cups.4. are all of substantially the same form and'size and are preferably conical,

and circular in cross section with their lower,

ends normally disposed. in substantially the same horizontal plane.

i t is evident, however, that when the apexes are secured in the manner described to the outer smaller ends of the arms 3 they will be free to yield in all directions and independently of each other when brought into pressing coaction with the more or less uneven surfaces of the clothes due to the peculiar curves and resiliency of the arms -'3- throughout their lengths and also to the jcircumferentially offset relation of the cups to the radial planes passing through the inner ends of the armsi I It has been found that the conical formation of the cups enables them to wholly withstand the strains to which they are subjected against crushing or buckling and that by securing the outer vertical ends of the arms Pill directly to the apexes of the cups not only enables the latter to yield in .all directions under different pressures against different portions of the rims thereof but also relieves the connections between the arms and cups from undue strains by distributing the pres sure stresses along practically the entire length of the arms.

This distributed resiliency of each arm from its point of attachment to the cup to its point of attachment to the hub not only permits the cup toadj ust itself to inequalities in the surface of the clothes operated upon but also permits each cup to adjust itself under the same conditions independently of the other cups and greatly relieves the lateral or tilting strains upon the hub '1 and also upon the plunger 6 which incidentally reduces wear uponthe guidepost for the plunger and consequent leakages of the Water through the gland in Which the plunger is movable.

Furthermore the rigid securement of the outer ends of the spring arms 3 to the apexes of the cones obviates all of the objections incidentally to the use of telescoping parts and compression springs therein commonly heretofore employed in machines of this character.

It is also obvious that if any one of the cups or its supporting armshould become impaired for any reason it may be easily and quickly removed and replaced without disturbing any of the other arms or cups carried thereb What I claim is: 1. In a clothes-washing device,'a vertically movable plunger, a hub on the plunger, spring arms having one end secured to the hub, and

- cups secured to theother ends of the arms,

said arms having different portions thereof curved horizontally and vertically respecj tively to afford greater resiliency between the cup and hub.

2. In a clothes-washing device, a vertically movable plunger, a hub on the plunger, a

longitudinally tapered sprin arm having its larger end secured to the hu and a cup secured to the smaller end of the arm, said being in angular relation.

4. In a mechanical, clothes washer, a vertrally reciprocating hub having a plurality of sockets in uniformly spaced relation circumferentially, spring arms having their inner ends inserted in corresponding sockets, each arm having different portions thereof curved in different directions and in planes approximately at right angles to each other, and cups rigidly-secured to the outer ends of said arms.

a'hub on the plun er, a plu- 5. In a mechanical clothes washer, a vertically reciprocating hub having a plurality of sockets'in uniformly spaced relation circumferentially, spring arms having their inner ends inserted in corresponding sockets, each arm having one portion curvedlaterally in a plane at approximately right angles to the axis of the hub and another portion curved vertically,and clothes-engaging members secured to the vertically curved portions.

. 6. In a mechanical clothes washer a ver-' tically reciprocating hub having a plurality of sockets in uniformly spaced relation circumferentially, spring arms having their inner ends inserted in corresponding sockets,

each arm having a compound curve circumferentially and axially with relation to said hub, and cups secured to the outer ends of the arms. I V

7 A spring arm for supporting the clothesengaging member of a mechanical clothes Washer, said arm having one portioncurved in a substantially horizontal plane and another portion curved in a substantially vertical plane.

In witness'whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 17th day-of March, 1926. e

MARK A. DEFIBAUGH'. i 

